Translational genomics in Brassica crops: challenges, progress, and future prospects

Abstract

The last two decades have been a period of rapid advancement in our understanding of plant biology and its related developmental processes. This advancement has been facilitated by the adoption of plant models for most of the economically important plant families, as well as the development of enriched genetic, genomic, transcriptomic and metabolomic resources. In recent years, sequencing projects on major crops have further enhanced our understanding of their genomic structure, evolution, gene functions, and, most importantly, this knowledge has been utilized for crop improvement. The Brassicaceae family contains several important research and agricultural species, including the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and economically important Brassica crops that are of great importance to human health and agriculture. Exploiting heterosis for yield enhancement, increasing tolerance against biotic and abiotic factors, and improving nutritional value remain the priorities in Brassica crop improvement. This review summarizes the potential of recently adopted genetic and genomic resources, as well as the basic knowledge obtained from studying the closest model plant A. thaliana, to accelerate the crop improvement programs in Brassica crops.